Lots of free-roaming cats in my neighborhood….

[Anonymous]

As the title says we have plenty of cats that have free reign of the neighborhood. Some have collars but the vast majority don’t, so I think they might be fending for themselves. We never see kittens though, just the adult cats. At least some of the male cats are intact. Am I just not good at spotting young cats or do they keep the kittens hidden until they’re big enough? I never though about this until my kid asked!

[Anonymous]

I had a friend who lived in a neighborhood like this. They would trap the cats and take them to places to get spayed/neutered and then re-release them. There are places that do it cheaply as it's their form of charity.

Also, I didn't know this before but they will cut a notch in the cat's ear (I forget if it's left or right). That is so people will know if the cat has already been fixed, so they don't bring in a fixed cat.

[Anonymous]

17:15 again. Sorry, to be clear, my friend and other neighbors would trap the cats.

[Anonymous]

It could be a controlled colony where somebody is doing trap-neuter-release. It's definitely not desirable to have intact cats (male or female) running loose.

OP, can you get a look at their ears to see if they have notched ears? Or do you have a neighborhood news group where you can ask? Are the cats causing any particular problem, or are you just curious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It could be a controlled colony where somebody is doing trap-neuter-release. It's definitely not desirable to have intact cats (male or female) running loose.

OP, can you get a look at their ears to see if they have notched ears? Or do you have a neighborhood news group where you can ask? Are the cats causing any particular problem, or are you just curious?

Just curious, the cats don’t cause us any trouble. My child was eager to see kittens. I don’t think I’ve seen any notched ears, but I’ll pay closer attention next time.

[Anonymous]

Call these people to help

https://www.alleycat.org/our-work/trap-neuter-return/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a friend who lived in a neighborhood like this. They would trap the cats and take them to places to get spayed/neutered and then re-release them. There are places that do it cheaply as it's their form of charity.

Also, I didn't know this before but they will cut a notch in the cat's ear (I forget if it's left or right). That is so people will know if the cat has already been fixed, so they don't bring in a fixed cat.

In my area in SoCal the Humane Society chapter here does all of this.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could be a controlled colony where somebody is doing trap-neuter-release. It's definitely not desirable to have intact cats (male or female) running loose.

OP, can you get a look at their ears to see if they have notched ears? Or do you have a neighborhood news group where you can ask? Are the cats causing any particular problem, or are you just curious?

Just curious, the cats don’t cause us any trouble. My child was eager to see kittens. I don’t think I’ve seen any notched ears, but I’ll pay closer attention next time.

The cats don't cause any trouble? They are for sure depopulating to songbirds in that area. We have a couple of free roaming cats in our neighborhood that belong to families here and they stalk and kill many birds, newborn bunnies, and other wildlife.

Cats do not belong outside in suburban neighborhoods and in fact, many places (incl Montgomery County) have regulations against allowing your cat to roam

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a friend who lived in a neighborhood like this. They would trap the cats and take them to places to get spayed/neutered and then re-release them. There are places that do it cheaply as it's their form of charity.

Also, I didn't know this before but they will cut a notch in the cat's ear (I forget if it's left or right). That is so people will know if the cat has already been fixed, so they don't bring in a fixed cat.

In my area in SoCal the Humane Society chapter here does all of this.

Exactly.

And they do a great job! We go to San Diego during the summer and we take our 4 pandemic kitties. This past summer, the youngest around 7 months, a girl, went into heat bc we couldn’t get a vet appointment before leaving DC. Our other three cats are fixed including the two boys luckily. All are strictly indoor cats.

Anyway, the girl, Ms Banana, who went into heat was yowling and yowling, trying to escape outside and doing what girl cats in heat do…. I was afraid that every stray intact male cat would come and surround the house but that never happened. Our neighborhood in San Diego has a large feral cat population but no intact boys! Ms Banana did not become an underage mom. Hooray! And we finally got a vet appointment to get her spayed.

[Anonymous]

Why do none of these cat people care about the birds that these ridiculous cat colonies kill? As if wild birds don’t have enough population pressure with dwindling habitat and food, people are trapping the cats and just getting them fixed? Brilliant idea, folks. Really thoroughly thought out.

[Anonymous]

How do you know the male cats are in tact? Are you picking them up and checking their balls? Because that is the only way you'd know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do none of these cat people care about the birds that these ridiculous cat colonies kill? As if wild birds don’t have enough population pressure with dwindling habitat and food, people are trapping the cats and just getting them fixed? Brilliant idea, folks. Really thoroughly thought out.

I’m a cat person and I hate outdoor cats because they’re terrible for the ecosystem but I’m not sure what the solution to existing feral cat populations is. Studies have shown that both trap-neuter-release and culling are fairly ineffective control strategies unless you get like 90% off the population which is almost impossible to do. :-/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do none of these cat people care about the birds that these ridiculous cat colonies kill? As if wild birds don’t have enough population pressure with dwindling habitat and food, people are trapping the cats and just getting them fixed? Brilliant idea, folks. Really thoroughly thought out.

I’m a cat person and I hate outdoor cats because they’re terrible for the ecosystem but I’m not sure what the solution to existing feral cat populations is. Studies have shown that both trap-neuter-release and culling are fairly ineffective control strategies unless you get like 90% off the population which is almost impossible to do. :-/

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call these people to help

https://www.alleycat.org/our-work/trap-neuter-return/

Alley Cat Alliies is run by crazy people who steal each other’s cats and damage property. Google it.

Also, TNR almost never works, because to see reductions in colonies you have to spay/neuter 75% and that’s usually impossible.

The only things TNR is good for are making AAA leader Becky rich (google her multiple houses) and letting cat lovers pretend outdoor cats aren’t freezing, sick, injured, and won’t ultimately get hit be cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do none of these cat people care about the birds that these ridiculous cat colonies kill? As if wild birds don’t have enough population pressure with dwindling habitat and food, people are trapping the cats and just getting them fixed? Brilliant idea, folks. Really thoroughly thought out.

I’m a cat person and I hate outdoor cats because they’re terrible for the ecosystem but I’m not sure what the solution to existing feral cat populations is. Studies have shown that both trap-neuter-release and culling are fairly ineffective control strategies unless you get like 90% off the population which is almost impossible to do. :-/

+1

+2. Our family keeps our cats indoors.

PETA recommends euthanasia on the grounds that outdoor cats live brutal lives. They get diseases, fight with each other, and die in car accidents and by freezing. I’m not really comfortable with euthanasia, but also we can’t pretend outdoor cats have anything like a good quality of life.

Some TNR cats can be adopted—my daughter just got one (complete with ear nick). He’s a great pet. He absolutely stays inside now.

Also, they’re terrible for native wildlife.